Microplinthus rugosus Meregalli, 2020

Meregalli, Massimo, 2020, Revision of the Nepalese genus Microplinthus Zherichin, 1987 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Molytinae), with description of 25 new species, Zootaxa 4794 (1), pp. 1-63 : 25-28

Microplinthus rugosus Meregalli n. sp.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:CE3F7D49-3A9C-4A4D-8F09-DA741608F5C8

Fig. 12

Material examined. Holotype ♂: “ Nepal: Solu Khumbu / Lamiura Danda 3500– / 3800m, 27°34’N 86° 30’E / 28.V–29.V.2013 / leg. Hagge & Schmidt” ( NMEG)

Diagnostic description. Length 4.0 mm. Body oval, dark ferruginous, integument moderately glossy, rough, reticulation indistinct. Vestiture with sparse slender setae. Rostrum very short, robust, moderately broadened apicad, in lateral view weakly and evenly curved, junction with head subsinuate, in dorsal view margins rectilinearly convergent apicad, interantennal width 1/2 than width at base; sculpture deep, composed of rows of large and dense punctures, separated by irregular glossy longitudinal lines, median line broadened at rostrum midlength, rows of punctures convergent anteriad, apical part glossy, smooth. Antennal scape, strongly thickened from midlength; funicle antennomere 1 shortly conical, broadly enlarged, 2 conical, less than twice as long as wide and narrower than 1, 3–6 globose, 7 transverse; club oblong. Eye large, oblong, with about 40 ommatidia. Pronotum slightly transverse, sides subrectilinear from base to midlength, then progressively curvilinear to apex; median keel narrow, scarcely raised, more or less continuous from almost base to almost apex, clearly delimited only on disc; surface with very dense and deeply impressed round punctures, often convergent in oblique rows, interspaces narrowly linear, convex. Elytra broadly oval, intervals narrowly convex, with low humps, their surface irregular, rough; striae broader than intervals, more or less continuously deepened, lacking differentiated punctures and with pits separated by a small glossy granule. Femur strongly thickened medially, lacking a clearly differentiated inner tooth; tibia short, weakly broadened medially, inner side with a row of spiniform setae, apex with setae obliquely extended along outer margin; tarsomere 3 as long as wide, lobes not prominent laterally, tarsomere 2 very short; claws distinctly toothed. Ventrites short, sides distinctly converging from 2 to 5, 1 and 2 with dense punctures, interspaces smaller than punctures, particularly on 1, 3–4 smooth, glossy, 5 shortly transverse, irregularly punctured. Penis curved downwards, stronger curvature in median part, less curved in apical part, in dorsal view lateral sides almost rectilinear to almost apical lamella, lateral sclerification broad, apex slightly prominent, rounded.

Differential remarks. This species, with its rough elytral intervals, lacking high tubercles, and the broadly oval elytra differs from all the other known species of the genus. It is sympatric with M. leptus , which is a narrow and smooth species. Microplinthus yeti , which lives not very far away, has the elytra matt, with highly raised tubercles.

Origin of the name. This name derives from the rough surface of integument, particularly on the elytral intervals.

Distribution. Eastern Nepal, at the north-western border of the region ( Fig. 28 ).

Figures

FIGURE 12. Microplinthus rugosus, Holotype ♂. Body (A, B); rostrum (F, G); antenna (C); pronotum (E); elytra (D); femur (I); foretibia (H); apex of foretibia (L); tarsus (O); claws (P); ventrites (N); penis (J, K, M). Bar: 2 mm.

FIGURE 28. Distribution map of some species of Microplinthus. Map data: Google Earth, Maxar Technologies, used according to Google Earth Terms of Service.